Mine car



- e. THACKRAY.

MINE CAR. APPLICATION FILED Aue."15, 1921.

Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

MINE can.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

Application filed August 1 5, 1921. Serial No. 492,338.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. THAGKRAY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of VVestmont, county of Cambria, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in MineCars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to cars which may be used in coal mines or other mineral mines, on industrial railways or in manufacturing plants and which are particularly adapted for hauling bulk material and especially useful when made into trains, as my construction and strengthening of the car sills and bumpers thereof adapts them to readily withstand'the pulling and butting stresses to which they'are subjected.

The carbody is preferably made. of metal sheet 'orplate pressed into form, and for ease and simplicity of construction the bottom of the car is preferably made substantially flat, the sides extending upwardly for a. short distance and then flared outwardly therefrom in order to provide greater capacity for lading, particularly when used in mines where the head room is limited. The upper edges of the car sides are preferably provided with a rounded bead formed integral therewith in order to strengthen and stifien them, and the car ends may be,

made of flanged plates secured and riveted to the :side and bottom portions.

In certain cases one or both of the car ends may be hinged. so that the car may be dumped endwise, but I prefer to make. the car ends fixed and riveted or bolted to the other portions as these latter are stronger and simpler, and well adapted for' dumping in what is known as a rotary dump of any of the various types now used in connection with coal and other mines. I

One of the particular features of my in vention resides in securing a heavy timber, preferably oak or other strong timber, to the inside of the car bottom extending centrally and longitudinally thereof with ends projecting outwardly therefrom.

This timber sill is secured to the inside of the car bottom by means of metal straps passing over its end and center portion and otherwise if desired, and through bolts or rivets are passed through he carbottom, the timber sill and the intermediate portion of the strap for further securing the timber tothe car.

On account of the necessarily small thickness of the metal plate or sheet, the carbody is not best adapted to withstand the excessive buffing stresses Or pulling stresses, but is primarily designed as a container for the ,lading. The introduction ther in of the heavy wooden sill makes the structure very well adapted to withstand the bufling stresses and pulling stresses on account of the lar e area of the wooden sill, which reduces the unit stresses-therein, beside which wood has a certain amount of elasticity, but

the modulus of elasticity ismuch lower than steel and it also has certain shock absorbing qualities and the reaction aftera shock is not so energetic as that of steel, so that the wooden sill is very effective and useful insuch cases.

The ends of the center sill are provided with bumpers, which may be of various styles adapted to receive the buffing stresses and transmit same to the sill, and I may also "provide a longitudinal continuous. metal draw bar extending through the car and secured thereto and to the bumpers, the ends of this draw bar being bentupwardly and provided with holes to receive the coupling pins in connection with correspondlng holes in the bumper.

\Vhen cars of this kind are formed into trains their construction is such that they have a continuous and strong center sill and a continuous draw bar so that the pulling stresses do not affect the car body, but are concentrated in the center sill and draw bar, while the buffingstresses. which are frequently quite severe owing to the movement of the cars when they contact forcibly with each other, are adapted to be received and absorbed by the wooden center sills. which. on account of their size and character of material, receive such shocks and absorb them without damage, resulting in p eserving the car and its body, whichotherwise might be bent or distorted by such shocks.

Having thus given a general description of my invention, I will now, in order to make the matter more clear. refer to the annexed sheet of drawings, which forms part of this specification, and in which like characters refer to like parts:

' of the car with the left hand portionshown in vertical sectional elevation onthe longitudinal center line of the car; Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional elevation taken on the line IIIIII of Figure 2, and Figure 4 is a cross sectional elevation through my timbercenter sill and adjacent parts showing a continuous draw bar mounted above the straps which secure the sill to the car body instead of inside or below said straps as illustrated in Figure 3, the- .construction of Figure 4 being the preferable design, as it allows the draw bar to be placed or removed without interfering with the other portions;

Referring now to the characters of reference on the drawings; 1 indicates the car in general; 2 the side portions thereof and 8 is the car bottom, these being formed integral from a plate or sheet of metal by pressing or otherwise; 5 isa wooden cent-er sill which is secured to the top of and central with the car bottom and is secured and held in place by the bent plates 4, shown with outstanding ends, riveted or bolted to the car bottom. I may also provide strengthening or reinforcing angles 6 on the car bottom, but these may be omitted if desired. The car bottom is preferably provided with-reinforcing plates 7 attached to the upper side of the bottom to serve as washers 0. reinforcements for attachment of the axle bearings thereto by means of the bolts 9. 10

is a continuous draw bar composed of a flat rectangular bar of iron or steel andll are bolts which pass through the draw bar 10, the center sill 5, the car bottom 3 and the reinforcing plates, including the central reinforcement S or the angles 6 for the purpose of securing the sill firmly to the car. The draw bar 10 is provided with bent-up ends 12 as illustrated, adapted to receive the coupling links between said ends and the bumpers as illustrated at the left hand side of Figure 2. Througl-i bolts 13 are provided whichpass through the ends of the continuous draw bar 10, the center sill 5 and portions of the bumper in order to secure all these parts firmly together near the ends where'the shocks of use are most severe. The ends-of the car are 14, which'are preferably. formed of flanged metal and riveted to the car sides and bottom as illustrated. ()n the end projections of the sills 5 are mounted the buffer blocks 17, which may be of pressed or cast metal adapted to surround the ends of the sill 5 and provided with lugs or ears 15 extending laterally thereof and secured to the other parts of the end of the car by the bolts 16, thus adding to the strength and rigidity of the end construction to absorb or resist the shocks. to which 11; is subjected, The butting end of wardly extending portion 24:, which serves as a separator between the upwardly bent ends 12 of the draw bar and. the other portions of the construction immediately below same, these parts being secured together by the bolts 13 as previously explained. 25.

are transverse reinforcing bars which extend crosswise of the car ends 1n order to strengthen and stiffen the same and secured to the other parts by bolts or rivets,

Although I have described and illustrated my invention in considerable detail, I do not wish to be limited to the exact and specific details thereof as shown and described, but may use such modifications in. substitutions for. or equivalents thereof as are embraced within the scope of my invention or as pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A metal car body having a substantially 10o flat bottom and a wooden longitudinal center still mounted thereon and secured thereto.

2 A metal car body having a flat bottom, a wooden center sill mounted and secured thereon, its ends projecting outwardly from the car body and coupling means.

3. A car body composed of metal plate with a flat bottom, a wooden center sill provided with buffer and mounted thereon, and a plurality of metal straps partially surrounding said center sill and secured to the car bottom.

4. In a car body, having a fiat metal floor, a wooden center sill mounted thereon and secured thereto by metal straps secured to the car body and to the sill and body by through bolts.

5. In a metal car provided with a flat bottom, a wooden center sill mounted thereon, its ends projecting outwardlytherefrom, said'center sill being secured to said car bottom by metal straps and through bolts, in connection with a continuous draw bar mounted on and above said center sill and with its ends spaced aparttherefrom.

6. A metal car provided with a flat bottom, a wooden center sill mounted thereon and extending longitudinally thereof with its ends projecting outwardly therefrom.

metal bumpers mounted upon the ends of 13a said center sill, a continuous draw bar also mountedon and above the same w1th 1ts end portions vspaced apart'therefrom and with with its ends extending therefrom; a continuous draw bar mounted on said center sill with its ends spaced apart therefrom, metal straps surrounding theupper. and side .portions of saidcenter sill secured thereto arid to the car. body, and 'a draw bar with upwardly projecting ends secured to the car,

and bumpers mounted on-the ends of said" center sill.

8. A metal car body provided with a flat bottom, a wooden center sill. mounted -,cen-

trally and extending longitudinally thereof and secured thereto by means of straps secured to the car body and passing over the same, bolts through the sillfthe straps, and

the car body, the outwardly projecting portions of said sill being provided with buffer and coupling means.

signature.

A 25 In witness whereof I hereunto afiix my GEORGE EQTHAOKRAY. 

